This disclosure relates to a reactor vessel and cooled liner.
Reactor vessels, such as carbonaceous fuel gasifiers for producing synthesis gas, typically operate at elevated temperatures. For example, the temperature in a carbonaceous fuel gasifier may exceed 3000° F. (1649° C.). The reactor vessel may include an internal liner that protects the reactor vessel from the elevated temperatures, which may be greater than 1200° F. (649° C.) at the liner.
A variety of different types of liners are known. For example, one type of liner includes refractory bricks that insulate the reactor vessel from the high temperatures. However, one drawback of using refractory bricks is that the bricks may become damaged in a relatively short period of time and require replacement, which increases the operating expense of the reactor vessel. Additionally, reactor vessels that utilize refractory bricks may require relatively long warm-up or cool-down periods to avoid thermal shock damage.
Another type of liner in gasifier reactor vessels is referred to as a membrane wall, comprised of a jacket of tubes coated with a ceramic compound (typically a silicon carbide-based ramming mix) and is cooled with either sub-cooled or boiling water. This cooled membrane wall liner approach provides a frozen slag layer to protect the liner, purportedly resulting in relatively long liner life. However, this liner approach is complex and significantly higher cost than refractory brick lined gasifiers.
A third type of liner is a cooled ceramic matrix composite (CMC) liner, which is comprised either of individual CMC tubes/channels or integrally woven CMC channels. The ceramic panels are joined to the metal reactor vessel or other metal components used with the reactor vessel, such as coolant inlet and return passages. Although effective for cooling and more durable than refractory bricks, a thermal expansion mismatch between the CMC components and the metal of the attached reactor vessel or component may impede the ability to achieve long-lived reactor vessel liner designs.